The Big Eight-Oh*

We are made of water
And we are dripping down
Helices uncoiling
Corroded cells must drown

The wrinkled river rolls
With tranquil dignity
Its gritty secrets silt
The passage to the sea

Watchers stroll the shoreline
Entranced by ebb and flow
Their footholds excavated
By riptide undertow

Surfers catch the curl
Of shearing from below
I'll be the Big Kahuna
Ride the Big Eight-Oh

*The Big Eight-Oh refers to an 80-foot wave that is the surfer's Mount Everest. The highest wave ever surfed was estimated at 86 feet (as of 2020).

This poem is dedicated to the Pittsburgh poet-artist-writer-activist janet jai, who succumbed to the ravages of cancer in August of 2024. She was 79, on her eightieth circuit 'round the sun, so she was indeed "riding the big eight-oh."

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Richard Krepski (RICHSKI) is retired from a career as research scientist and educator. He currently resides in the twilight zone between scientific rationalism and poetic lunacy. His writing often has a spiritual or supernatural theme. Recent poems have appeared in Braided Way, The Helix, and The Closed Eye Open; and stories have been published by Ravensperch, Uppagus, and Esoterica. His poem parody, "A Cream-Puff Deferred," can be found at parodypoetry.com/2014/03.